The Republican journal., 1887-04-28
The Mounds and Mound Builders.
PREHISTORIC OHIO.
BY PROF. l.. 9. BATEMAN.

In my former article l advanced the theory
that the Mound Builders of America were SIM
ply colony from the lost Atlantis. The more
l study and investigate this subject the more
thoroughly l become convinced of its truth.
1t is the only rational solution of this great un-
settled problem. The colonies of this enter
prising race were pushed out in all directions.
From Mexico to Yucatan n from the shores Of
Brazil to the mountain peaks of Peru - and
from the Gulf of Mexico to the head waters Of
| the Mississippi these people extended, carrying
with them the civilization, language, religion
and blood of their Atlantcan parents. In no
other way can we account for the thousand
similarities between races so widely scattered.
and having no knowledge Of the existence of
the others. The parent stock of the great Ar
yam races is lost in the night Of oblivion. We
know that their descendants cover all Europe
and large portion of Asia to-day; their Ian
glages can be traced to a common origin, but
their early abiding place is veiled in the deepest
mystery. Common opinion says they origna-
ted in Asia. Then why should their language
cnntain no words to express the idea of
WAR AND BLOODSHED:
From time immemorial the Asiatic races have
been cruel and warlkc, and their languages
abound i'll expressions descriptive of tumult
and disorder. The ancient Aryan tongue, OH
the contrary, contains no4 hing of the kind Its
whole structure is based upon scenes of peace
and quiet This shows concusively that the
fathers of that civilization must have dwelt for
ages so completely protected from wild beasts
and barbarian> as to have lost ali memory of
the one and all words descriptive of the other.
Where could this have been possible save in
some long civilized land. surrounded by the
and isolated from the attacks of savage
tribes that occupied the rest of the world! If
they existed in Europe then why have no mon-
uments of that people been found? Why has
their civilization spread to the ends of the
earth while il has ceased to exist in the peace
fu region where it OF. .inatad: But one ans
wcr can be returned to these questions. At
lalti> was the early home Of the Aryan race.
TIE destruction OF that island and the ,lisper-
sion of its language among its hundred colonies
gave rise to the diversity of tongues in general,
but yet whose similarity in particulars betray
a common origin. No Tower of Babel is need
ed here. The Egyptian sun-god. RG, crops
out in liindostan AS the god Rand; among the
Mexican Totccs as HUynti. and in ancient
Peru as R0ymo. Their attributes are idcnti-
cal; thc: origin, doubtless, was equally identi-
cal. have before spoken of Egypt as a col
ouy from Atlantis. \ race that is smi-ycneTis
to the soil can be traced by its language and
mythology from the lowest forms of barbariSm
up TO its highest development of civilization.
Not so with the Egyptians. They had no
archaic or savage state. Their civilization was
Il flower which burst upon the world in its
highest perfection. As far back in the ages
the eye can penetrate we still see the swarming
mu!ttutlcs. possessed of all the highest arts
and sciences. pressing forward from that older
and greater empire of which this wonderful
Nile-land was but faint and imperfect copy.
More light may yet be thrown upon her rise
and progress, but our deepest researches have
hitherto shown her to Us as the mother of Il
most accomplished race. How they obtained
their civilization is Il matter for speculation; ;
that they possessed it is Il matter of fact. Well
might the Egyptian priests say to Soon the
Grecian philosopher: "You Greeks are mere
children: talkative and vain; you know moth
ing of the past" The Egyptian priests were
the repository of all learning. With them died
the knowledge and crudition Of ten thousand
years. Could we become possessed of the wis
dom which perished when the Persian mon
arch, Cambyses, swept over Egypt.
TIE HISTORY OF OUR OWN MOUND BUILDERS
might easily be made complete. That there
WAS close and intimate relationship between
the two races is beyond question. Close invcs-
tigation forces us TO the conclusion that the
Mound Builders were an Older colony than the
Egyptians. The square mounds of Ohio are
an exact representation Of the great pyramid Of
Chcop>. Perhaps should have said that the
pyramid of Chcop> is All exact representation
of the mounds of Ohio, only upon an enlarged
scale. From the finer and improred Workman
ship of the Egyptians structures. it is but Il
logical inference that they We're constructed at
Il later period How came the human mind to
hit upon this singular edtce-the pyramid
and by what process of development did it at
tain such perfection: Why should these extra
| ordinary structures crop out on the banks of
the Nile, amid the mountains of Peru, and up
on the plains of the Mississippi valley? And
why should they in these widely separated
countries always stand with their sides square
to the four cardinal points of the compass,
| while il narrow passage-wav always leads to
| the inside at precisely the same angle?
TIE GREAT PYRAMID OF CMEops.
| covers over thirteen acres, the mound near
| Alton covers over twelve acres. while the
| Mexican pyramid of Cholula covers over the
| enormous space of forty-tive acres! The pyr;l-
mid is one of the marvellous features of that
ethnolo"ica question which confronts us on
every hand, and which is insouble without the
| lost Atlantis. Admit the existence Of this
| The Mound Builders were one of the earliest
colonies of Atlantis. They pushed up the
| Mississippi river and gradually spread out in
! every direction. Their outly ying provinces even
penetrated into regions where the severity of
the climate prevented great density of popula-
tion or development of civilization. They
were prc-eminently a river people, ana con-
sequcntly we find their dcn>est settlements
near the banks of nayigablc streams. There
is no evidence that they ever reached the New
England coast or even crossed the Allegheny
mountains. They preferred the Mississippi
and its tributaries, and here upon its alluvial
| plains we find their noblcst ruins. In Wiscon-
sin we find the northern central limit of their
work. while the lake shores of Michigan abound
in their mighty structures. Their circular
mounds are found in Iowa, Minnesota, and
Dakota, while Illinois and Indiana were dense
ly populated by them in every part. 1t is well
known to antiquarian scholars that the copper
mines of Lake Superior were worked long
ages ago by some unknown people. Mines
have been found in that region which show
THE PATIENT TOLL OF CENTURIES
by expert workmcn. The great mass of pure
| copper which many of my readers may have
| seen in the Smithsonian Institute ut Washing.
ton, was eXcavated by these ancient miners
upon its surface. Excavations have recently
been found in northern Michigan the size and
depth of which must have required a large
force of workmen at least five hundred years
to have mined. Copper drills and other imple.
ments were found in the exact spot where the
workmen last used them. These drills were
tempered harder than the finest steel, and thus
another of the lost arts brought to our aston.
shed gaze. Therei is not the slightest evidence
who the men were that did this work; but from